‘Yes, you’ve beaten Venus Williams, but now it’s time to tidy your room’

was seven to boost her prospects. With so much expectation, Candi says she must ensure her daughter “is healthy and happy”. “When I look at her, I am looking for her emotions, her facial expression, to see if she is a happy individual,” she says. “I want to raise children who are happy and appreciative.”

Gauff ’s 6-4, 6-4 triumph against 39-year-old Williams on No1 Court was “everything finally coming together” – and her mother says it was no surprise to see her normally controlled daughter in tears. “People who have watched Coco since she was in the juniors know she can have peaks of emotions that can come out and she could give up a game. One of the things we talked to her about most is that, ‘Only Coco can beat Coco’. What I mean by that is that Coco is in control of what goes on, and if Coco has the self-control, then the person is going to have to beat [her].”

Having turned professional at such a tender age, Gauff has been attending “virtual” high school, where she logs in on calls streamed to teachers back home. “She is already a professional, but she has to carry on studying to get her high school diploma,” Candi explains. “And from there she has to go on to college. It would be just online, a few courses at a time, but I am a firm believer that your brain still has to be worked. If that is not working, other things stop. So, as a teacher, I make sure she keeps up with it all.”

Remembering that tennis is still “secondary” has helped her keep her head under pressure. Candi says Cori gets her calm demeanour from her. “I am going to say me, because my husband has that ‘fire’ male basketball players have – they are aggressive and high-spirited.”

Candi explains how her daughter has plenty of time for other interests, saying she has developed a mild obsession with Jaden Smith, the son of Hollywood actor Will Smith. “One of the things we do is, when you are practising, you are focused, you are 100 per cent, you give it your all, and then away from the court, it’s relaxed. We’re not thinking about the tennis per se. We’re enjoying life growing up. I taught school for 19 years and one of my things I preach is children having childhood. That’s one of the things that I’ve stepped back and made sure, ‘I’m the one, I’m the parent’. I can do that in the circumstances she is in.”

After her daughter’s unexpected triumph, Candi was forced to hastily arrange accommodation. They will not be tempting fate by booking a flight home ahead of her second-round showdown. When she eventually returns home there will be high school exams to dread. “I had to email the teachers, ‘Can we back off a little bit while she finishes up the tournament?’ Immediately afterwards she has to get back to the school work.

“It is hard to get gaps of time when she can focus. But I tell her, ‘Your job is to be a student first. You have to do your job, tennis is secondary’.”

‘I tell her your job is to be a student first. You have to do your job, tennis is secondary’

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